Blood IN Hittite Ritual Gary Beckman (University of Michigan) The generally anonymous authors of the texts that describe the rites of the Hittite state cult were practical men.1 Laconically they set forth the procedures to be followed and wasted few words explicating or justifying either the ceremonies or the individual ritual actions of which they were composed. Thus in our consideration of the meaning and function of blood in Hittite religious practice,2 we cannot avail ourselves of any clear statement of na- tive belief analogous to that found for Israel in the Hebrew Bible: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.”3 Nonetheless, Hittite compositions of various genres do contain passages revealing that in H ̮ atti blood (ešh ̮ar 4) was recognized as the carrier of life and strength. Conversely, its presence was taken as an index of mortality. In a legendary account of the campaigns conducted in Anatolia by the Sargonic king Narām-Sîn, the ruler commands that a scout be dispatched to perform the following test on terrifying beings encountered by his forces: When he proceeds to pierce(!) them with a spear and cut them with a blade(?)—if [blood] spurts forth from them, they are human, and I shall go against them (in battle). If blood does not spurt forth from them, they are deities, and I will not go against them.5 In the course of an “induction ceremony” into the Hittite army, wine is poured out on the ground before the sol- diers concerned, and the officiant addresses them: Abbreviations employed here are those of The Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (1980–). 1. Although women play an important role as participants in some festivals, we have no evidence for female scribes in H ̮ atti. For a general discussion of the religious observance of the Hittite state, see V. Haas, Geschichte der hethitischen Religion (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 674–95. 2. Much of the relevant material has been collected by V. Haas, Materia Magica et Medica Hethitica (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2003), 511–16. See also B. Christiansen, Die Ritualtradition der Ambazzi (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 153–54. 3. Lev. 17:11, as translated in the New Revised Standard Version. On the role of blood in the Hebrew Bible, see David Biale, Blood and Belief (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007), chapter 1. 4. See HW2 115–21 and HED 2, 305–13, as well as R. Stefanini, “Itt. eshar (= sangue): problemi formali ed etimologici,” AGI 43 (1958): 18–41. 5. KUB 3.16+ ii 8′–11′ (CTH 311): 7′. ma-a-an pa-iz-zi iš-pa-an-ni-it iš-kar-h ̮i 8′. URUDUta-pu-ul-li-an-ni-it-ta ku-e-er-zi ma-a-an-ša-ma-aš-t[a e-eš-h ̮ar] 9′. ši-ya-a-ri a-pé-e ta-an-du-ki-iš 10′. ta-aš-ma-aš pa-a-i-mi ma-a-an-ša-ma-aš-ta e-eš-h ̮ar Ú-UL ši-ya-ri 11′. a-pé-e DINGIR.MEš-iš ta-aš-ma-aš Ú-UL pa-a-i-mi iš-kar-h ̮i in ii 7′ must be an error for 3rd person. See H. G. Güterbock, “Die historische Tradition und ihre literarische Gestaltung bei Babylo- niern und Hethitern bis 1200. Zweiter Teil: Hethiter,” ZA 44 (1938): 49–65. 95 JCS 63 (2011) 96 GARY beckman [This] is not [wine]; it is your blood. And [as] the Earth has swallowed it, so may the Earth in the same way swallow [your blood] and […] (if you betray your oath).6 It is not merely some of their blood, but the very life that it represents, that rebellious troops will forfeit. Blood’s connotation of “vigor” or “strength” is evident in the metaphorical expression “drink the blood” (ešh ̮ar eku-), which means “weaken (transitive).” In his bilingual “Political Testament,” King H ̮ attušili I justifies before his courtiers the harsh terms under which he had banished his daughter: When [I] heard [that] she had put [the citizens] of H ̮ attuša (the Hittite capital) to death, I sought tears (i.e., remorse) for them (from her). Had [I] not sought (them from her), you would have slandered me with (your) tongue(s) (saying): “[He has] expelled [his daughter].” I, the king, did [not do] anything (to her). (Whereupon she said:) “[Why] have you given me so little?” (So, I, the king, replied): “[If I hadn’t given (you)] only a little—[if] I had given you more cattle, (if) I had given [you more] sheep […]—I would have been drinking the blood (of the land).”7 Metonymically, the noun “blood” can denote the act of “murder” or “bloodshed,” and the phrase ešh ̮ ar iya- (lit- erally “do or make blood”)8 is best translated as “shed blood, commit murder.”9 Another excerpt from the text just quoted well illustrates the latter usage. Here the king discusses the odious behavior of his nephew and former adopted son and heir: His mother is a snake. Henceforth he will always heed (first) the words of his mother, and of his brothers and sisters. And when he draws near, it will be to take vengeance that he approaches! [And concerning my troops], my dignita- ries [and] my subjects who surround(?) the king, [he will vow]: “They will be massacred on account of the king!” So he will proceed [to destroy] them. He will begin to shed blood (ešh ̮ar iya-) and will have [no] fear!10 Another Old Hittite historical source, the “Proclamation” of King Telipinu, summarizes the events of this turbulent period as follows: “Previously blood(shed) became common in H ̮ attuša.”11 Such a transgression was thought to 6. KUB 43.38 rev. 14–16 (CTH 493): 14. [ki-i-w]a Ú-U[L] G[EšTIN] šu-me-en-za-an-wa e-eš-h ̮ar nu-wa ki-i [ma-ah ̮-h ̮a-an] 15. [ta-g]a-an-zi-pa!-aš kat-[ta] pa-a-aš-ta [šu-me-en-z]a-an-n[a e-eš-h ̮ar] 16. [ o o ]-ya ta-ga-an-zi-pa-aš kat-t[a QA-TA]M-�MA pa�[-a-š]u Edited by N. Oettinger, Die militärischen Eide der Hethiter (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1976), 20–21. 7. KUB 1.16 + KUB 40.65 iii 6–12a (CTH 6): 6. ma-a-an iš-ta-m[a-aš-šu-un nu-wa-kán DUMU.]MEš URUH ̮ a-at-ti UŠ-M[I-IT] 7. iš-h ̮a-ah ̮-ru-uš-m[i-it-ta-aš-ta ša-a]n-h ̮u-un ták-ku-ma-na-<aš->ta 8. Ú-UL-ma ša-an-[h ̮u-un GAM-an ša-ra-a-ma-]a-am-mu la-a-li-it 9. e-ep-te-en n[u?-wa? DUMU.MUNUS-ŠU pa-ra-]a tar-na-aš LUGAL-ša 10. Ú-UL ku-it-[ki i-ya-nu-un o o ku-w]a-at-mu ki-i te-pu pa-it-ta ? 11. ták-ku-<ma-an > te-p[u Ú-UL pí-ih ̮-h ̮u-un ma-a-an-]ta GU4.H ̮ I.A-ma me-ek-ki pí-ih ̮-h ̮u-un 12. UDU.H ̮ I.A-uš-[ma-an-ta o o o me-ek-ki pí-]ih ̮-h ̮u-un e-eš-h ̮ar-ma-an 12a. e!-ku!-un [ … ] Edited without join piece by F. Sommer and H. Ehelolf, Die hethitisch-akkadische Bilingue des H ̮ attušili I. (Labarna II.) (Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1938), 10. For the addition, see C. Kühne’s review of KUB 40, ZA 62 (1972): 257–60, and for restorations in iii 6–8 see CHD L–N, 21. I have translated the entirety of this text in The Context of Scripture, Vol. 2: Monumental Inscriptions, ed. W. W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 79–81. 8. H. Kronasser, “Zu heth. ešh ̮ar iya- = akkad. dāmi epēšu,” in Festschrift Johannes Friedrich zum 65. Geburtstag am 27. August 1958 gewid- met, ed. R. von Kienle et al. (Heidelberg: Winter, 1959), 273–89. 9. See H. A. Hoffner, “On Homicide in Hittite Law,” in Crossing Boundaries and Linking Horizons. Studies in Honor of Michael C. Astour, ed. G. D. Young et al. (Bethesda: CDL, 1998), 296. 10. KUB 1.16 i–ii 20–25 (CTH 6). For transliteration, see Sommer and Ehelolf, HAB 4–5. The restoratione-eš-h ̮ar in ii 24 of the Hittite text is guaranteed by da-a-mi a-na e-pé-ši-im in i 24 of the Akkadian. 11. KBo 3.1 ii 48 (CTH 19): ka-ru-ú-wa e-eš-h ̮ar URUH ̮ a-at-tu-ši ma-ak-ke-eš-ta. Cf. also HFAC 40, obv.? 7′–9′ (CTH 655): ták-na-aš dUTU-i kiš-an te-ez-zi iš-h ̮ar-wa ku-it ma-ak-kiš-ta iš-h ̮a-ah ̮-ru-šu-wa �pa-an-�ga-ri-ya-ta-ti …; see my “H ̮ antili I,” in Kulturgeschichten. Altorientalische Studien für Volkert Haas zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Th. Richter et al. (Saarbrücken: SDV, 2001), 51–58. blood IN hittite ritual 97 cry out for divine retribution, and we read that the gods indeed exacted revenge (ešh ̮ar šanh ̮ir, lit.